Barack Obama and the Jesus Machine (Guardian UK)

[depakid]

The news that Barack Obama has fallen foul of the conservative televangelist James Dobson - who came close to describing him as a fruitcake, a clear case of pots and kettles - may not be entirely bad news for the Democratic candidate.

Dobson, the founder of the Focus on the Family organisation, is arguably the most influential and feared spokesman for the religious right, if only for his access to a daily radio audience of 20 million Americans or his six million-strong mailing list. No wonder the journalist Dan Gilgoff called his book on the organisation The Jesus Machine.

From his 81-acre campus in Colorado Springs – which employs 1,200 people, a third of them answering callers who ring in with problems - Dobson daily booms out his message of a civil war of values and a frequently cranky not to say bizarre take on the world (Europe is pagan, SpongeBob SquarePants is gay, The Da Vinci Code was cooked up in hell, feminists are wicked).

<snip>

Dobson also likes the idea of breaking candidates as well as making them. In 1996 it seemed likely that he would endorse the hardline conservative Phil Gramm as the Republicans' presidential nominee, until they actually met. Gramm bravely told him that he was running to be president, not preacher: "I just don't feel comfortable going round telling other people how to live their lives", which caused Dobson to break off his support. "I walked into that room fully expecting to support . Now I don't think I would vote for him if he was the last man standing."

As might be imagined, Dobson was gung-ho for George Bush, but he appears to feel the same about McCain as he did about Gramm. And now Obama has received similar treatment, being extravagantly castigated all of a sudden for a speech he made two years ago in which he suggested that religious organisations opposed to abortion should make their case in terms accessible to the secular world - a proposal which Dobson has decided is a "fruitcake interpretation".

But Dobson is in a fix here. If he does not opt for either main candidate, what are his followers to do and where is his influence in the new White House? Younger evangelicals are starting to be interested in other causes, such as the environment, which Dobson scorns. They listen to him less and younger, less partisan preachers more. They tend to approve preachers who do not endorse particular candidates or tell their congregations how to vote.

The Obama campaign has put considerable time and effort into courting the religious vote (unlike John Kerry four years ago who deployed just a couple of part-time workers to canvass religious voters) and, helped by the absence of a credible religious right presidential candidate, it seems to be paying some electoral dividends.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/26/uselections2008.usa?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

[blogslut]

1. Dobson is losing his power

I am so torn up about that. :eyes:

Let him sit in his pouty little corner. Better yet, I hope he goes postal. The evangelical movement is supposed to be about bringing the Good News. It's supposed to be about love and community. Dobson preaches nothing but hate. He didn't used to be so horrid but I guess the fame and the money took over.

I wish the religious beliefs of our candidates did not matter, but they do. I am glad that Obama is courting these people successfully. There are millions and millions and millions of them. We're going to need every vote we can get if we want to override crooked voting machines and voter disenfranchisement.

[Colobo]

2. Obama can win a good chunk of the religious vote, despite Dobshit.